Two years after indicting eight activists for conspiracy to riot at the Republican convention in St. Paul, prosecutors settled for misdemeanor admissions from the remaining defendants. It was another of the government’s overblown and over-zealous prosecutions since the 1999 Seattle street confrontations.

Reader Comments (2)

Thanks for updating this story, Tom.

I could not get to the story in the Pioneer Press with your link. Perhaps this will work: http://bit.ly/aZDPa3

My son, Max, 21, was one of the RNC 8 defendants. It was 780 days from the SWAT team raid on his house in south Minneapolis (on the weekend before the 2008 RNC in St. Paul) to the sentencing on Tuesday. Over more than two years, criminal charges against Max were added and subtracted. Early last year, he and his codefendants each faced four felony conspiracy counts, including two with "terrorism" enhancements that would have allowed a 50 percent uptick on a prison sentence -- to 7.5 years.

In the end, Max pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge, conspiracy to commit riot in the third degree (more than $500 damage). He got 180 days, suspended; 1 year supervised probation; 100 hours of community service work; a $200 fine; no restitution; and no subpoenas to testify in any related cases. It is fairly amazing that they dropped the felony charges, and that Max (along with Garrett, Nathanael and Rob) will not go to jail.

However, Erik Oseland, who took a plea deal in August, entered the Ramsey County jail on Wednesday to serve a 91-day sentence. He is the only one of the RNC 8 to do additional jail time. In late September, charges were dropped completely against three of the defendants.

It has been a crazy, stressful two years for the defendants, their friends and families. The outpouring of support (and dollars for the legal defense fund) from members of the Twin Cities community, and across the US, allowed us to battle the Ramsey County attorney to the point where they finally did not want to take this case, fraught with political issues, to trial. Thanks to everyone for your concern and support.